Winter Sunshine Salad

No better way to follow up the cakes in the last post than with a salad, right?! It's all about balance over here on the blog. Gotta have a little green to go with the sweets. To be honest, I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to share a salad with you since the word itself tends to make people yawn, but then I said screw it and decided to share it anyways. So, salad for everyone!

My tendency lately has been to steer away from raw salads since my body is in winter mode and craving warm foods. But, I still love my greens (and salads!) so I've been lightly steaming them to make them more nourishing and digestible. This salad was one of those recipes that just popped into my head one day. I immediately recorded it in a little notebook where I keep other musings and blog ideas and decided to bring it to life today. I think it came about because I was thinking about how delicious the contrast would be between a bed of herby steamed greens and fresh, juicy slices of citrus fruit. The rest of the recipe came together as I stood in the kitchen making it. Sunflower seeds were added for a bit of crunch, goji berries for their lovely hue and delicious sweet-tartness. To elevate the steamed kale a bit of fruity olive oil and apple cider vinegar were added. And voila! A salad is born.

Citrus is happily abundant down here in Texas right now and I can't help but smile when I see the sunny-hued orbs hanging in trees around town. It takes all I have not to pull over and jump out of my car to pick as many as possible before someone yells at me. I actually picked the grapefruit I used in the salad from my sister's neighbor's tree! That's as local as it gets for me without planting a darn tree in my backyard. So, in honor of the abundance of sunny citrus, I give you the Winter Sunshine Salad. Make it, eat it, then smile and sit back to bask in the rays of the winter sun :)

Winter Sunshine Salad
notes: If you don't have goji berries on hand, feel free to use dried cranberries or you can leave them out altogether. As for the citrus, I used what I had on hand so feel free to use what you have. Blood oranges would be really delicious if you have them!

1 container of baby kale (about 5 or 6 oz)
1 tbsp combined fresh chopped herbs (I used basil, sage, & thyme)
2-3 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tsp apple cider vinegar
sea salt/fresh cracked pepper to taste
small handful sunflower seeds
small handful of goji berries
1 small navel orange, peel/pith removed and sliced
1 small grapefruit, peel/pith removed and sliced

Steam the baby kale leaves until tender and bright green. Add in the herbs and steam with the kale for no longer than 30 seconds, then remove the greens and arrange them on a plate/bowl/platter. Drizzle the greens with a bit olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper to taste, then scatter the sunflower seeds and goji berries over the top. Finish the salad by arranging the citrus slices over the top. Makes 2 larger or 4 smaller servings.